We were lucky to catch up with Nicholas Hyche recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Nicholas thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

Prior to starting Der Wurst Hot Dogs, I was an Executive Chef for a major hotel brand for 7 years, overseeing multiple food and beverage outlets. Prior to that I worked my way up from cook to Chef through restaurants, hotels, and resorts around the area. With the hotel and resort world, there’s stability and structure in employment and benefits. Health insurance, 401k, PTO and biweekly paychecks. There is NONE of that in the self employed entrepreneur world, at least in the beginning. I risked that safety net, to leave and create my own business, jumping into the unknown. And I do not regret it one bit.

Nicholas , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a classically trained Chef, who’s worked at some of the best restaurants and resorts in the city, who now owns and operates Der Wurst Hot Dogs. I started off 5 years ago as a hot dog cart which was towed behind my hatch back, selling my hot dogs and sausages at taprooms, breweries, carnivals and grand openings. I moved to a brick & mortar location in September 2020.

I only sell locally crafted hot dogs, and sausages handmade by my friends at Schreiner’s Fine Sausages in Central Phoenix, All of my items are served on fresh baked pretzel buns and topped with a multitude of scratch made toppings

We have won Best Hot Dog of Phoenix 2 years in a row from a large Phoenix area publication and continue to reinvent what a hot dog is capable of being.

Have you ever had to pivot?

COVID outbreak of 2020 forced my business to close temporarily. All of the breweries and taprooms I set up at were legally shut down, thus I had nowhere to sell my items. During those months I transitioned into an indoor location in Uptown Phoenix, inside The Linger Longer Lounge, and slowly ramped up my new style of business: a full menu to correspond with the bar and lounge atmosphere I am now within. I added shareable platters, spins on classic bar food and interesting takes on hot dogs.

That still wasn’t enough during the peak of COVID. So I became involved with a City of Phoenix program to make healthy meals for low-income families. I’m now making salads, wraps and dinner entrees and dropping them off for weekly distribution.

This pivot helped me tread water until business slowly came back.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I funded this business initially on a shoestring budget with my savings.

I paid $1000 for initial permits and insurance

$2000 for the hot dog cart

$500 for equipment

$500 in initial food order

$150 for my on-site bank to make change for customers.

$500 to open business banking account

And that’s it. I started a still thriving business for about $5,000. It’s been 6 years and I’ve still not injected any more of my own money into the business. It’s been self sustaining since day 1.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.Derwursthotdogs.com
• Instagram: Der_wurst_hot_dogs

Image Credits
All photos: Nadya Sanchez: Pajarita Creative Photo